Romancing the Racer
by lolita noir
Summary: She had traded her designer gowns and violin concerts for dirty diapers and PTA meetings. Little did Michiru know that she would put everything on the line, including her marriage, when the ex-race car driver came into her life.
1. Chapter 1

As a childhood violin prodigy, she had engaged private tutors while going on concerts. She had even received an invitation to play in Vienna. She had been able to see the world and to hone her talent. It was too bad that her violin was locked away in her bedroom at home. She hadn't touched it since Hotaru came into their lives. Having a toddler curiously plucking at a Stradivarius was the last thing she wanted.

She lifted the seashell to her ear. The waves rolled gracefully to the shore. The night was gentle and serene, the moon casting a glow upon the white sands of the beach. When she was in the city all she did was think about nights like this, as her tiny, sable-haired daughter slept in the next room over. Her husband often worked late nights at the office.

She wasn't as likely to wear the Chanel and Dior and Gucci dresses that hung in dry cleaning bags in the back of her closet. Nor was she to paint her nails, or to elaborately design hairstyles. What mother had that kind of time? Instead she shopped the mall. It was easier to navigate when pushing a baby stroller and driving an SUV.

But still, she would have liked to play right now, as the sea foam brushing against her ankles, and the breeze casting an accompaniment to the sweet, sad music.

She set the seashell down. She had to remember to put it with Hotaru's seashell collection. Hotaru liked to collect things. She liked to collect seashells because they reminded her of her mother, as well as lamps. Sometimes, Michiru felt like a dull woman. She was young to be a mother, after all.

But Michiru didn't see the way eyes followed her from across the street. Traffic slowed to have a better look at the beautiful aqua-haired woman who didn't look old enough to be holding the tiny five-year-old's hand. Many still seemed captivated by the deep ocean color of her eyes, or the clutch of a cardigan or dress to her dainty figure.

Except her husband. Her full lips slipped into a frown as she thought about him. He was a kind man, handsome, and taller than most. After trying to have a child together for a year, his suggestion had been to adopt from an orphanage. She thought he was generous, even after some of her neighborhood friends had said they would have preferred a child of their own blood. Hotaru had come to live with them when she was one year old. They had been married for two years.

She was sitting on the front porch of their beach house. A few miles outside Tokyo, it was quiet here, away from the busy buzz of the city that never slept, and everyone slept peacefully tonight. Except her. She liked to watch the waves roll gracefully to shore. They gave her a quiet serene feeling that soothed her like a balm. Not that her life was so hard. In fact, it was easy, too easy sometimes, she thought. Thoughts she would never voice aloud.

She was happy, though, sitting here in her porch chair with the sea so close at hand. For the first time in quite some time.

Ryuji, her husband, had a firm hand at the wheel. He guided their car safely back to their home in the suburbs of Tokyo. It was a comfortable, two-story home, easily afforded by Ryuji, a corporate executive. Summer was coming to an end.

Hotaru would be starting kindergarten in a short manner of time. There was nothing Michiru liked more than spoil her daughter, and anything Hotaru wanted in preparation for her first year of school, Michiru was glad to give. Ryuji approved of his beautiful wife and daughter's accumulation of many charming dresses for their daughter, and was happy to hand over the yen needed to afford it, provided that his wife buy something lovely for herself as well.

He was a generous man. Michiru wished beyond the shadow of a doubt that she loved him.

Hotaru's first day of school came sooner than anyone realized. It was a joy to Michiru, as well as a heartbreak, that she had to drop Hotaru off for her first day. She dressed the raven-haired child in a deep violet dress with a darkgarnet red sash, and added mary janes and a little ribbon for Hotaru's hair.

"You look lovely, hime-chan," she announced, dropping a kiss on her daughter's head.

"Thank you, mama," Hotaru answered sweetly, twirling in her pretty dress. "I'm very excited to go to school."

"If you're so excited," Michiru smiled, "let's go get your new things and go to school."

Hotaru ran to her room, and Michiru gathered her handbag and car keys. She had a Mercedes SUV that she was excited to drive Hotaru to school in. Hotaru's new school was a school for gifted youngsters.

They got in the car and Michiru made sure Hotaru was buckled up. They drove to the school, Michiru remaining a calm driver throughout the morning commute. Soon enough they pulled in front of the school building. Several other cars, though not as nice as Michiru's, were parked outside as well.

"Alright darling," Michiru turned to Hotaru, "here is your stop. I will collect you this afternoon, so have a wonderful day and be a very brave girl." She smiled though her eyes were watering up. Was it only yesterday Hotaru had come into their lives?

"I think you're more upset about this than I am," Hotaru patted Michiru's hand gently. "I'll be home this evening, mama. Try not to miss me too much."

Hotaru kissed her on the cheek, and climbed from the car, her dark hair a contrast to the morning light. Michiru watched her go and knew that Hotaru would be alright, as self-sufficient and intelligent as she was.

After a while she shifted the car from 'park' to 'drive' and the Mercedes SUV slid easily into heavy morning traffic. She rolled down the window, enjoying the fresh morning breeze combing through her soft aqua tresses, and disappeared into the morning.

Time both flew and stood still that first day. Michiru didn't hardly know what to do with herself, given all the free time. She brought out her violin. The maid who came every morning enjoyed the sweet musical offerings of the former famous violinist.

When Hotaru's school let out Michiru was right there to pick her up, and the little black-haired girl gravitated toward the sleek Mercedes. Hotaru's backpack, complete with a label for a designer children's shop, was full of interesting things, as Hotaru told it.

"And then we went outside for lunch, but we had to stay close to the teacher, Inokawa-sensei, and the birds were chirping so loudly-I wonder if it was the first day of bird school as well," she rambled, "and I met so many new people, and I have my very own set of art supplies, just like you! Oh, and there's a music teacher who's supposed to be really famous, not as famous as you mama, but she used to be a race car driver! Tenoh-sensei is so tall, taller than papa even-"

As Hotaru paused for breath Michiru smiled, her sapphire eyes gleaming as she regarded her daughter. "I'm glad your first day was good, hime-chan. Let's go home, and see what sorts of things you've brought home."


	2. Chapter 2

Michiru put on the pair of Chanel earrings she had dug up from her old jewelry box. She wanted to look her best for the PTA meeting later that day. It was there that she would volunteer to be a classroom mother. The idea made her even happier because days without Hotaru were so long. She was only just getting reacquainted with her violin and paint set. Ryuji was rarely home, as business for the term was coming to a head.

Hotaru was so excited about her new school. Each day Michiru felt like she could cry because her hime-chan didn't need her as much. She already knew several kanji and even knew a little of the English alphabet, and could count to one hundred and read books far above her age level

However, Michiru felt like she was discovering something she had not known was missing: herself. Just herself, all alone, before marriage and a wonderful child. She felt optimistic instead of usual worry and concern.

Hotaru was so excited to show her mama her new school, once she had been picked up for the day. She came home, showing Michiru her newest art project, which Michiru was happy to hang on the refrigerator. After a while the maid left for the day and Michiru fixed Hotaru a snack of peanut butter and jelly, and milk.

Ryuji was late, once more from returning to work. Michiru knew that her husband worked very hard to provide for them. He had important meetings coming up and was doing all he could to prepare for them. She did not really miss his presence as she and Hotaru drove to the school. They led fairly separate lives, coexisting peacefully in the same bed when he did not fall asleep at work or come home late.

She passed through the impressive gates of Hotaru's new school. As a child, she attended this same school. Memories flooded in as she parked the Mercedes. Her childhood had been mostly happy. Though her parents had divorced when she was ten. Though they had proven their devotion to her, she still elected to stay with Ryuji because she did not want to risk Hotaru's happiness.

She got out of the SUV and helped her daughter down, mother and daughter proceeding down the sidewalk, hand in hand. They were a very sweet picture. Hotaru was dressed in a dove gray dress with a pink bow tied in the back, and black mary janes and ruffled socks. Her sable hair shone deeply in the late afternoon sun. Michiru, herself was dressed in a cream coloured Chanel suit with deep blue piping, and Chanel earrings. Her long legs were the envy of the other mothers who piled into the auditorium with daughters in tow.

They found seats close to the front of the room, Hotaru swinging her legs happily in the seat. Silence gathered and the principal, Meioh Setsuna, approached the front of the room. She was a rather enigmatic looking woman, with incredibly long hair and dark garnet eyes. Her deep olive skin meshed pleasantly with the deep emerald of her business suit. "Good evening ladies," she began, clasping her hands in front of her, "and welcome to the first PTA meeting of the year. I am pleased on behalf of our faculty to see so many interested parents among us. Especially you brave men," she smiled and the audience tittered. "After addressing general concerns we will break off to our pupils' homerooms and address more classroom specific concerns. Please enjoy your evening."

As she spoke, Michiru was subtly glancing around, noting individuals and surroundings. One figure brought her up short. "That's Tenoh-sensei," Hotaru whispered excitedly, and Michiru looked him over. Tenoh was a tall with a spare build type of man, a nearly feminine face and elegant hands. Michiru noted that he had wicked green eyes and pale blonde hair that drifted over his eyes just so. "Isn't she so tall, mama?" Hotaru remarked cheerfully and Michiru found herself shocked. Well, Hotaru would know better than she if Tenoh was a woman. It didn't seem possible, but she didn't feel brave enough to turn around for another look. She found herself blushing for the first time in ages and faced forward in her seat feeling like she had just been called out for misbehaving, though of course no such things happened.

The general meeting ended and Michiru relied upon her hime-chan to guide her through the crowd, to a classroom down the hall. There she met with Inokawa-sensei, Hotaru's homeroom teacher who dealt with general subjects. Inokawa-sensei was a petite, brunette woman who spoke calmly with that certain air all primary school teachers seemed to possess. She was dressed neatly and without flash, in a prim gray pencil skirt with a white blouse tucked into it, and a thin braided belt around her waist as her only accessory. She met shortly one-on-one with each of the mothers-well, there were fathers there too-and discussed their progress.

Hotaru, Michiru found out, was a very impressive student. Though Inokawa expressed worry that Hotaru was such a delicate child, constitutionally. Michiru set her fears to ease. Hotaru was ill when she was very young, being born very early to a young mother according to the adoption agency, and currently, while she was a fragile little waif, she had a strong heart and a will to flourish. Setting Inokawa at ease brought a flush of pride to Michiru's face, and she turned to Hotaru, beaming a smile.

But Hotaru was looking at Tenoh, waving at him-her, Michiru corrected herself-as Tenoh entered the room. She was dressed in a pair of dress pants, fitted around the hips but flowing gracefully down her legs to her expensive shoes. Tenoh lifted one elegantly strong hand to her hime-chan, and Michiru watched, brows knitting themselves together.

The normally composed teal haired woman's eyes widened, however, as Tenoh lifted her deep green eyes to her, and froze, mid-wave.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night, Michiru reflected on the exchange between herself and Tenoh Haruka. She picked at her food, listening with half an hear to the exchange between her hime-chan and Ryuji. He was home early for once, having arrived just when Michiru and Hotaru had slid into the driveway, climbing from the Mercedes, both chatting cheerfully about the meeting at the academy.

She pushed her food around her plate, biting her lip as she thought. Her hair was still pulled up from cooking dinner, but a stray curl had found its way loose, and she brushed it aside impatiently. She had exchanged that look-so strange, who knew where it came from?-with Tenoh-san for what seemed like ages, but only really encapsuled the span of a few moments. It was all she had been able to think about, the enthusiasm in her voice stemming just from the energy that had turned her nerves into flames.

Hotaru was chirping about her favorite topic-school, of course-to Ryuji, who looked overwhelmed by the steady flow of dialogue coming from his daughter's lips. The black-haired princess had barely touched her food, and Michiru gently bade her to eat. The silence that resulted (of course, Ryuji had little to say) allowed her to better reflect. As though she needed prompting...

She thought back to the sessions after the introduction by Meioh Setsuna, the principal of Hotaru's school. The parents were supposed to go to their children's classes and speak with the professors, rather like an open house meeting. It made her so much more relaxed about letting hime-chan out without holding her mother's hand all day. Especially the part where the parents were able to volunteer for a day a week in the classroom, helping with snacks and activities, supervising playground escapades. She had chatted with Hotaru's instructor, Inokawa-sensei, and had been reassured by the woman's gentle demeanor.

And, of course, had been introduced to Tenoh Haruka, the instructor for the music class who also seemed to moonlighted as a P.E. instructor. She certainly looked the part, Michiru thought with a blush. Very fit and tall for a woman, with crisp clothing and a certain look in her eye each time she viewed the skirts of the wealthy mothers. The kind of woman Michiru's mother would have been scandalized by, no doubt.

She had spoken very briefly with her, in the classroom after the Staring Incident, as she had been referring to it. "Tenoh Haruka," she had introduced herself, with the faintest little smile she could muster, giving Michiru the compliment of staring her into the eyes as she had done so. She had bowed very gracefully, shoulders back, graceful lines of her neck shown to advantage. Michiru had to admit she had been looking. Ryuji not living up to his conjugal duties was the only thing Michiru could think of to explain her fascination with the tall blonde-the tall blonde who was _female_, on top of everything else.

She focused in on the conversion just as Ryuji directed a question toward her. "Ara?" Michiru murmured quietly, and Ryuji's eyebrow lifted at her inattention. "I said, Michiru dear, what did you think of Hotaru's music teacher? Tenoh, was it? I know that name," he continued good-naturedly, not bothering to let Michiru answer the question he had directed at her. "He-excuse me, she-was an F1 racer who paraded as a man. When she was found out, she suffered serious penalties for her lies, and lost a lot of sponsors. I wonder how she wound up teaching at the academy?" He directed this last question toward his plate, and if he had anything else to say, he kept it quiet in favor of finishing his dinner.

That explained a lot to Michiru, but she figured they should not discuss Hotaru's teacher in front of her, given the problems that might arise if Hotaru would speak up in class about what she had heard. Not that Michiru thought that would be a problem, as Hotaru was a sweet child, not prone to petty behavior. But who knew what a curious child would say?

Nonetheless, when Ryuji disappeared into the bathroom of the master bedroom, Michiru signed online and did a few searches for Tenoh Haruka. Because she was curious as to the nature of the woman teaching her child her favorite subject, of course. Or so Michiru told herself.


	4. Chapter 4

She was set to be a classroom mother the coming Monday, and Michiru spent all weekend thinking about it. There was a party that she had to attend with Ryuji, a party given for the many famous clients that the firm Ryuji worked at had registered, and she was happy to do so, if only to have some time to think about besides the upcoming weekday she was to attend Hotaru's class. The usual babysitter was called. She did all the proper things she should do, which was leave emergency numbers, tell Hotaru to mind the sitter, and permit the sitter one phone call to her boyfriend, after Hotaru had gone to bed.

She had chosen to wear a gorgeous sea green gown with silver threading and piping at the shoulders, and her favorite designer earrings and matching heels with the ankle strap. Getting dressed up was one of her favorite things when she was a little girl, and one of the few activities her strict mother would permit her. It was too easy to make Michiru into a porcelain doll, and Michiru's mother had followed suit. Michiru had noticed she was dressing up quite a bit lately, and could not be sorry for such opportunities.

If her husband was only gallant to her, the rest of the men were in awe of her. She overheard one of the men refer to her as a sea nymph, as he was talking to Ryuji, and Ryuji had just laughed his good-natured laugh and complemented his own taste in wives and women. It was not something she permitted herself to dwell but instead she joined the party in full force, smiling, laughing, chatting with people in a way she hadn't done in so long. Being Ryuji's housewife, though trophy wife was more appropriate, limited her social interactions, especially when they had adopted Hotaru and she was chasing after diapers and bottles.

It was only after a while of chatting with other ladies of her station, women whose husbands were important climbers in the firm her husband belonged to, that she noticed hushed voices coming from one particular corner of the large party room. After a while, she noticed a blonde head which seemed to be just a little taller than most of the other men, and the color so stood out in her mind that she could do nothing but pay attention. It was Tenoh Haruka, Hotaru's teacher.

As though they had a mind of their own, her feet carried her toward that gathering of people. It seemed mostly to be comprised of older men who had a fatherly air toward the woman, and women who simply wanted to bask in the presence of such a unique personality: a stunning man, with a man's ability to carry himself with that certain male charisma, who was in reality a woman.

Michiru couldn't blame them. She was feeling so drawn in that direction, and so she had no reason to be jealous.

She was disappointed and excited to see that as she drew closer, the conflicted feelings inside her didn't lessen, but rather intensified. Her feet had a mind of their own, still, and weren't pointing her directly at Tenoh-san, in fact, but were pointing her toward the balcony, a small distance beyond the gathering that swarmed Haruka like so many droning bumblebees. That was where she was being directed, and that was how she had to move.

_It was the same for that night, as well, bathed in starlight and the scent of moonblossoms, which were so much more present, away from the dancing and music and out on the balcony. So many people fascinated by the tall, blonde princess who did not chose to dress like a lady, but rather like a handsome knight..._

Michiru blinked, and realized that she had been led onto the balcony of the large hotel the gathering was being hosted in. Her hands, in fact, were gripping the stone railing gently, and she leaned over. Why were flowers on her mind? There were no flowers here, several stories above the flow of nighttime Tokyo traffic. She was about to turn, and go back inside, and try to figure out just why she was so spacy on such a strange night as this, but-

"You're Hotaru-chan's mother, right? I would recognize the hair anywhere."

Michiru's eyes closed briefly but she knew she could not stay in such an embarrassed position for so long. How could she ever think Tenoh-san would not recognize her, when they had shared such a strange moment the day of the PTA meeting. She turned, and before she could even get a look at the blonde she gave an exaggerated bow, to gather her composure back to her, not to be allowed to diffuse on the evening air.

"Tenoh Haruka-san," she rose and replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you, though I would hate to keep you from your loyal fans."

"Loyal they have been," the blonde laughed. "But that is a story for another night. Might I compliment you on your lovely daughter? She is adorable and very bright, I noticed from the first."

"Thank you," Michiru smiled, forgetting to be nervous in her moment of pleasure in receiving a compliment for her hime-chan's ladylike deportment. "Though, if I may be so bold, you don't seem the type to be an elementary teacher, Tenoh-sensei." She must have emphasized the honorific with a bit of coyness to it, for she blushed just as Tenoh-san simultaneously smirked in a soft and gentle expression.

"I'm not," was the short answer. "Let's just say that I know a few good people who decided to give me a second chance. Among them your husband inside, though I've only met him personally tonight. You're too beautiful to be married, Abekura-san."

"I did not take my husband's name upon marriage," she replied a little stiffly, disappointed for some reason. "I kept my surname because it was pertinent to my former career. It's-"

"Kaioh. I know your music. How could I not, moonlighting as a music teacher as I currently am?" Again, a jaunty smile, though this one was more subtle and was accompanied by a slight dip of her head in solemn acknowledgement. "I also know that you paint, and that you used to swim. When we start the swimming module in the phys. ed. course, you'll have to be kind enough to demonstrate for the students."

"You seem to know a lot about me, and I so little about you," Michiru offered by way of parrying Tenoh-san's overt knowledge. "Have we met before? When I saw you the other night at the meeting, I-"

"No," interrupted Haruka, and here she turned her head to stare thoughtfully at the city lights. The moonlight and the reflected light turned her hair to a bright platinum, Michiru noticed. Her fingers itched for a paintbrush and canvas. "We haven't met, but for a second you did look familiar." Her celestial gaze grew troubled, if only for a moment, before she turned to Michiru with a rakish smile.

"It was a pleasure, Kaioh-san. I look forward to seeing you, and Hotaru-chan, Monday morning. Now, if you'll excuse me-" and here her eyes lifted to the inside of the party, where the same cluster of men and women waited patiently- "my loyal fans are waiting."


End file.
